


Ivory and Gold

by Lotus_Dumplings



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Bird/Human Hybrids, God it's just prose, M/M, Wings, love my bois
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-25 03:00:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22028851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lotus_Dumplings/pseuds/Lotus_Dumplings
Summary: They're each other's treasures—their ivory and gold.-----Prumano Week 2019, Day Eight
Relationships: Prussia/South Italy (Hetalia)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Ivory and Gold

**Author's Note:**

> Borbs

Gilbert had only heard of gold in stories. Glittering nuggets of light, they say, precious and sought out in trade because of the shine and the rarity. Travelers would pass through with a story or two of nestings decorated with feathers and gold pellets or of rivers flowing with the light buried below, just waiting to be uncovered. When he was little, he used to splash around lakes and baths and ponds, looking for just a tiny nugget or two. His world would be clear skies if he could find one—he would have the respect and wonder of many. 

He thought he'd found it once, happily showing his father. It was the gold of tales, it had to be! It was a rock the shined, even if it was a bit unimpressive. But he was wrong, much to his dismay. Up North, they call it "lessluster". In the South it is "black gold". No matter the name, Gilbert kept it, letting it fuel his search for the mystery metal. 

As he grew older, he started caring less for such stories. How can one find a land of gold if it is nearly impossible to find single piece? How can someone find enough to decorate charms or nestings or tree stops? The more he questioned the truth in the stories, the more he questioned the existence of gold at all. From then on, gold was only a myth—a word to describe the setting sun or the bright summer sand. 

Until he met Lovino.

Lovino treasured ivory. He knew ivory was real, but it was so rare to find at home. He remembers when he was younger and wilder, when his cousins and half siblings were just as much so, and when they all began to lose their downy feathers. They decided to sneak out of the settlement to collect stones, jump from small branches, and listen to the tiny wingeds. One of them in particular, a crested beak, was known to be rare. And rather than leave it be or warble to it, he tried to touch it. Though his arm stung for days—and his parents chastised him longer—he got a small ivory tooth out of it. A treasure he'd keep with him until eventually gifting it to his newly dubbed flightling brother years later.

He saw it again after Feliciano was born, when a traveler came by with an ivory necklace. They told stories about the Far South and the people. Desert tamers who lived side by side with the elements and learned to tame the wingeds. They traded ivory, they said, for quite the heavy exchange. It made sense to Lovino. Ivory came from living things, just like them. That's what was so great about it. It was as much a symbol of life as it was a symbol of beauty. It had a story to it, happy end or not.

That's when he decided he would travel. Not just migrate—he needed to migrate—but travel the land. He would travel Far South and find a desert tamer, and he would travel Northstead and discover milder suns. He would be just like other travelers, going home after long trips with word of tongue and a small souvenir. One day he would stop in places with a story to tell and a memory to instill. One day he would have treasures and be rich with tales. One day, he would find his ivory. His own, and when he did, he would keep it by his side. He would treasure it.

It wasn't long until he found it. 

Gilbert is like ivory. He's beautiful and pale, sure, but he's more than that. He's alive and animated, with so much spirit and energy. He's simultaneously the relaxed and the poetic parts of life. He's got a story, and while it isn't always exciting or happy, it's his story and Lovino is happy to be a part of it.

Lovino is like gold. He's almost too good to be true. He shines, more than he believes, and he glows in his own special way. It's impossible to emulate his energy, his charm, his beauty. He's a legend in the making, and everyone is going to want him. But Gilbert was lucky enough to succeed in finding him.

But, most important, they're precious. They're too precious to ever let get away. They mean the world to each other, whether by chance or by fate. They're each other's treasures—their ivory and gold.

**Author's Note:**

> Worldbuilding :DD


End file.
